Retired detective found dead in hoarding conditions in Connecticut, months after she went missing

Mary Notarangelo lived a reclusive life in her later years, according to the few people who had contact with her.The retired police detective tended to her many birds at her Connecticut home and posted videos of them on social media, including one accompanying her on a trip to a local crafts store.But a welfare check request to police last year uncovered disturbing truths.Hoarding conditions were found in her house in Glastonbury, just southeast of Hartford, when authorities tried to find her last July.It wasn’t until February that a work crew using a small excavator discovered her skeletal remains.They were found beneath a pile of debris heaped just inside her front door, according to a police report released Wednesday.Glastonbury police said conditions in the single-family home set off a rural road in the woods were among the worst they’ve seen and hindered several search attempts over the months.Officers said there were 6-foot-tall “mountains” of garbage blocking entrance doors.Dead birds were found in cages along with mice running about and a live cat.And there was a terrible stench.“Once inside, I observed more mountains of garbage, cobwebs, and spiders,” Officer Anthony Longo wrote in the report.

“There was no path whatsoever.The only way to move from room to room was by climbing over the garbage.”It’s not clear how Notarangelo died.At 73, she was a retired Bridgeport police detective and longtime Wiccan, according to officials and friends.Her death was first reported by Hearst Connecticut Media earlier Wednesday.The state medical examiner’s office said her cause of death could not be determined because the remains were mostly skeletal.A friend had called police to request the welfare check July 3, 2024.He told investigators Notarangelo last texted him around June 12, 2024, saying she was having abdominal cramps, vomiting and had fallen.

It’s not clear why the friend — who did not return phone and text messages — waited so long to c...